Meteorite Lands Near Chelyabinsk

Here is the account of today's extraordinary meteorite strike in Chelyabinsk, Russia.

The meteorite was the size of a bus, and it landed in ice near the city.  It nearly missed landing in Lake Cherbakul.  This happened in broad daylight, and the meteorite left a contrail as it broke apart, leaving debris and at the end of its journey, a crater.

The velocity of the rock (estimated at 20,000 mph) created a sonic boom that blasted out windows.  This is what caused most of the injuries, now estimated over 1,200.

Russia Today also has reports here, here, here, and here.

I have friends and colleagues in Chelyabinsk.  I sent a facebook to Father Vladislav Ivanov, the pastor of Holy Spirit Lutheran Church, as well as to Bishop Vsevolod Lytkin (the Siberian Evangelical Lutheran Church's bishop) and Deacon Victor Shtraube.  I heard back from Father Vlad:

"Father Larry, all is well. No one is hurt. Many broken windows. We saw everything. Drinking coffee in the kitchen, flash, and big explosions. Mobile communication was bad. How will the news, I'll write. Thank you for your prayers."

Bishop Vsevolod also replied:

"Dear father, everything is OK with our Church people... as with most of people in Cheliabinsk. There about thousand persons are injured but not hard. Mostly people are hurt by pieces of glass windows. By the big grace the meteorite fallen down near the chemical plant, but not into. If it fallen into... then it could be big ecological catastrophe. But the meteorite just broke the fences and walls of this chemical plant. And fallen down into a lake." 

'via Blog this'

Another Primal Success!

Read here for an epic primal success story.

Heath is a 35 year old self-described former "doughnut eating cop" who, in six months, went from 299 pounds, wearing size 42 pants, carrying 40% body fat, to 206 pounds, size 32 pants, and 17% body fat.

Heath explains how two of his friends lost a combined 70 pounds in two months - which mirrors my own timeframe and weight loss.  Anyone can do this.  And it is worth it!

With Lent starting tomorrow, a person could be looking at a virtually new body in the mirror, with more energy and greater overall health by Easter.

Secession, Freedom, and the "Impossible"

[The heroic dissident Vladimir Bukovsky wrote about the changing attitudes by 1970 in the USSR, approximately 20 years before the collapse of the Union, from page 353 of  To Build a Castle: My Life as a Dissenter, Viking Press, New York, 1979. - Ed.]

"There had been quite an upsurge in national movements during my absence [incarceration].  They were extremely varied and even had different external aims.  The Meskhetians and Crimean Tartars, for instance, who in Stalin's time had been forcibly deported from their homelands to Central Asia, were trying to obtain the right to return home.  The Jews wanted the right to go to Israel, the Volga and Baltic Germans to Germany.  The Ukrainians, the Caucasians, and the Baltic peoples wanted secession, national independence, and the right to a national culture.  Five years before, the mere mention of national independence or the right to secession would have been sufficient to guarantee you fifteen years for 'high treason.'  And leaving for abroad was still regarded as treason.  But citizens who had resolved to submit to their conscience instead of their Party card were beginning to force their own reality upon the state.

"This wasn't a political struggle, there were no heroics.  It was like a 'club of the sane' in a lunatic asylum.  All that was left to us was to be normal people....

"Here there was no right, left, and middle of the road.  Everyone had been made equal by the Soviet concentration camps.  Just as before, there were no leaders and led, no pushers and pushed, no rules and regulations - only it was easier, much easier.  There were more people, there was more publicity, and the people came from higher up the social scale: professors, academicians, writers - not to be compared with us striplings of the early 1960s.  Rights were now claimed on the spur of the moment, and yesterday's 'impossible' was a commonplace today."

Bye Bye Babylon

The perfect rock anthem for 8-year old Legomaniacs (and Russian priests...).

The Sons of Confederate Veterans

I had a blast from the past a couple days ago.

I got a call from Pat, an old friend from about 15 years ago. He and I were members of the same Sons of Confederate Veterans camp when we lived in Pennsylvania. Pat was a teacher and did a stint working in law enforcement. He is now retired. Unbeknownst to me, Pat had done some traveling in Russia, and has even been farther east than I was last year during my visit to Siberia! He is thinking of moving to Russia to teach English, and I was able to link him up with some of my friends in the Siberian Evangelical Lutheran Church. 

We had a great chat, and it reminded me of the many wonderful friendships and contacts I have made over the years in the SCV. I met Compatriot Nelson Winbush (in the above video) whose grandfather actually rode with General Nathan Bedford Forrest. I met one of the last living Confederate widows, and one of the last living Union widows (whose husband was a freed slave). I met a lady whose father saw the body of Jesse James shortly after he was shot. I met "real sons" whose fathers were Confederate soldiers - a link in our history that is quickly dying off. I met compatriots from every walk of life, men of every ethnic background, men from every religion and political stripe who are united in their desire to honor their ancestors who fought for the Confederate military forces in the War for Southern Independence of 1861-1865.

My own ancestors in the 25th Virginia Infantry were prisoners of war at the notorious Point Lookout prison in swampy Maryland - which was more like a concentration camp than anything else. One of my uncles (Richard J. McLaughlin) died a POW at the age of 23 - yet still a veteran of nearly every major engagement of the Army of Northern Virginia - being wounded and twice captured.  He died of pneumonia because he was treated in a tent, while a world-class hospital (for Union soldiers) was literally yards away from where he was allowed to die.  His brother (James B. McLaughlin) survived Point Lookout and was sent to the equally inhumane and horrific Elmira prison in cold upstate New York.  He survived and lived to be 97 years old.

Ironically, I was much more active in the SCV when I lived in Pennsylvania. I served as a camp commander for two terms of the J.E.B. Stuart Camp 1506, which I helped become an active camp. I briefly served as the founding commander of the fledgling W. Baxter Perkinson Camp 1926 as well. Today, Pennsylvania has a Division within the SCV organization - which was founded in 1896 as an auxiliary to the veterans' organization, the United Confederate Veterans (see this great New Orleans UCV connection!). There is no local camp of the SCV in Gretna - although even if there was, I would not likely have the time to be very active. We have a local chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy in Gretna, and at least two of my parishioners are members, as are several prominent ladies from Gretna. I have been invited to attend meetings, and even to give a presentation, but alas, the UDC meets on the same day as the David Crockett Fire Company No. 1, whom I serve as chaplain (which, interestingly, formed a Confederate militia unit at the beginning of the war!). In spite of not being very active in the Sons, I still hold membership and receive the outstanding Confederate Veteran magazine.

 It was great to hear from you, Pat!  Deo vindice!

Do They Own Us and Our Children?

The above comedy video by Christian humorist Tim Hawkins is a self-parody of homeschooling. There is some truth in this little video, though (like all good humor) it is exaggerated and blended with stereotypes and misconceptions.

A relative recently decided to start homeschooling, and found out the snarky attitude of some of the establishment, one of whom told her that she "needed permission" to do it.  Now, in her locale, this permission consists of basically notifying the government with a simple letter.

This is basically the case in Louisiana - which is quite a homeschool-friendly state. Nevertheless, the fact that one has to petition the state to homeschool one's children does raise the question: "Why?" What is it any business of a bureaucrat - be it in Baton Rouge, Washington, or Geneva? Why should we seek their permission - especially considering the track record of a lot of these government schools (some of which allow children free access to contraception without parental notification, many of which allow for pseudo-religious indoctrination which may run contrary to the parents' religion, not to mention the foisting of a political point of view at odds with those of many people who do not agree with the dominant views of many in the educational establishment)?

So why should parents seek permission from the state? Why should it not be the other way around? Does the state own our children?  Does the state own us?

Why shouldn't the default position be that the parents have the right to educate their children as they see fit, and that the state should seek permission to indoctrinate the children? Or as member of the European parliament Nigel Farage famously challenged his power-grubbing "colleagues" in Strasbourg: "Just who the hell do you people think you are?"

The more people start asking these fundamental questions, the more people realize that the state has long since overstepped its bounds, that the servant now presumes to be the master, that the Frankenstein Monster is running amok and the constitutional chains that were designed to keep him in tow have been snapped like balsa wood, and that it doesn't matter whether the state is a democracy, a republic, a monarchy, or a dictatorship, it is wrong for any agency to presume to tell parents how to raise their children.  And if the state's wings were not still somewhat clipped as they are here, we would have a system like Germany and Sweden where homeschooling has been basically criminalized, and children have been taken away from their parents!  Think about that, dear reader, children have been taken away from their loving parents and placed into foster homes because the parents were homeschooling their children.  We are not talking about beating them or starving them, but educating them.

Their real "crime" is showing the inferiority of the bureaucratic John Dewey progressive model of "education" as well as taking the (God-given) liberty of handing down their own moral and political views.  In unbridled statist models of society, the state is omnipotent over the individual.  There are some in American capital cities and capitol domes who lust after such power to dominate.

But in the final analysis, who does a better job, the government (with its mercenary armies of paid bureaucrats pulling the strings with money and regulations in the luxury of marbled domed edifices)?  Or parents themselves, who love their children, sacrifice for their well-being, and who have a moral and natural right to teach their values to their children?  And by what authority does the state claim authority to lord over the parent-child relationship?  Just who do they think they are?

Homeschool families often get to see these questions in action, not merely presented as theoretical poly-sci premises for academic discussion, but rather up close and personal in the very real world.

Maybe that's why Tim Hawkins also made this video:

Even the Troupe Can't Help Laughing

Debbie Downer & Lindsay Lohan Infamous SNL Blooper Sketch - watch more funny videos

A classic SNL sketch in which nobody can avoid cracking up.

WAH-wah......

On Flags in the Sanctuary

The question recently came up in my congregation about the lack of a U.S. flag in the sanctuary of the church.  I did not remove it; my predecessor actually did it years ago, before I was called to my current congregation.

And I support his decision to do so.

Of course, this was not a popular decision at the time.  But pastors are not called to be popular.  And for people who simply want what they want, and who stop up their ears to any explanation, they will simply choose to be angry.  They may even pass along veiled (or not so veiled) accusations of evil motives.  And yet even though I did not always agree with my predecessor in liturgical matters, I know he had no evil intention in making this decision - a decision that had the unanimous concurrence of the Board of Elders.

Everything in the church is about Jesus.  Everything in the sanctuary points us to Jesus.  Art is a powerful communicator of Christ and the Gospel - from the candles (representing the Light of Christ, the Light of the World), to the linen-shrouded altar (representing the empty tomb), to the baptismal font (often eight-sided pointing us to the eight people saved through water in the ark), to the stained glass windows depicting events in the life of our Lord and of the church, to statues and paintings, even to the plants and flowers (reminding us of Eden and of "the Lord and giver of life," everything in the church points us to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and ultimately to the restored communion with the Triune God won for us by the atoning sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The pastor's vestments, the symbols sewn on them and on the paraments, the colors used in the course of the year, the advent candles, the art depicted on banners, all point us to Jesus.  Crosses and chi-rhos, alphas and omegas, images of nails and crowns of thorns, even the dignified precious metals used in the communion vessels communicate the holiness of the sacramental reality of the Lord's presence.

Some might argue that Christmas trees and poinsettias and lilies that adorn our chancels are exceptions to this rule, but not so.  The Christmas tree is a tree - symbolic of both the Tree of Life in the Garden of Eden, as well as the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil from which comes all death and misery.  The Christmas tree symbolizes both the manger (the rough-hewn cradle of the Christ child) and the cross (the tree upon which the cursed Man is hanged).  Poinsettias and lilies are both plants that are at the height of their beauty during the holy seasons of Christmas and Easter.  There is nothing more natural and Christ-centered than to bring the beauty of life at the fullness of its vitality into the place where eternal life is given by grace!

The lily, in particular, is sometimes manifested (especially in my region) as a fleur-de-lis.  It is a symbol of Louisiana's French heritage because it is a religious symbol of a people steeped in the Christian faith.  The lily is often symbolic of Easter and the resurrection, also the Blessed Virgin Mary, as well as the Holy Trinity.  It is a symbol of the football team called the Saints because it was first a symbol of Christian sainthood, that is, holiness.

Similarly, the pelican appears on the state flag of Louisiana, not only because these creatures are native to our state, but also because the pelican is a venerable symbol of Christ, based on the medieval fable of the mother pelican giving her life to feed her brood with her own blood (see also LSB 640, stanza 3).  The symbol of our region is so because the people of our region have an ancient Christian heritage.

The Fleur-de-lis and pelicans have been used in Christian symbolism and art for centuries.  There is a rich and deep christology and Trinitarian confession made with these symbols.

So where do national flags come into all of this?

In the vast majority of churches around the world, you will not find a national flag.  Visitors to the U.S. are sometimes shocked to visit churches and find flags adorning the sanctuary.  It sends a mixed signal about what Lutherans refer to as "the two kingdoms" - that is, the Church (the right hand) and the State (the left hand).  In some European state churches, there is a mixing of the two to the point where in England, the head of the Church is the Queen, and where until recently, in Sweden, pastors were paid out of compulsory taxes.

Some brutal regimes forced flags into the churches, such as Nazi Germany, which compelled churches to display the desecrated cross of National Socialism - which was essentially a competing religion of state-worship.  Sadly, many clergy fell for this false religion and its symbols.

Modern Roman Catholic churches do display the coat of arms of the pope - which so happens to be the national flag of the Vatican.  This probably explains why Roman Catholic churches in the United States do often display U.S. flags - as it is a breach of U.S. etiquette (according to the flag code) to display a foreign ensign without a U.S. flag.  Here in New Orleans, the St. Louis Cathedral in the French Quarter - a historic landmark and tourist attraction - actually displays dozens of historic flags that flew over New Orleans - including the official governmental flag of the Confederate States of America.  And even though I enjoy history and have an affection for the Stars and Bars and other symbols of my heritage, I believe none of these flags have a place in a Christian sanctuary.  The Cathedral has an impressive history, but its most important historical connection is to the body and blood of Christ that are physically present on the holy altar - all other history pales in comparison to Him whose incarnation is why we number our years Anno Domini.

The practice of displaying the U.S. flag in Lutheran churches is a recent phenomenon - and it began because during the World War I era (and again during the Second world war) mainstream Americans were harassing ethnic Germans, and the German Lutherans felt compelled to abandon their German language and heritage and to try very hard to show their American patriotism - partially out of fear of being terrorized - as the U.S. was at war against Germany twice in the last century.

The LCMS website addresses this history as well as the overall issue of whether or not having a U.S. flag in the sanctuary is appropriate:

Rev. Prof. William Schmelder, seasoned parish pastor, historian and professor emeritus of Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, has responded to a query from the Commission on Worship regarding this matter:

“To the best of my knowledge, the U.S. flag began appearing in our churches in response to two things: the desire to express an unquestioned loyalty as U.S. citizens (a reaction to WWI sentiment) and the growing sacralization of the flag in U.S. culture. In the history of my home congregation (Immanuel, Bristol, CT), the story of the responses to both WWI and WWII is given in some detail. However, the picture of the church after the renovation in 1948 does not show a flag. There was a flag on the grounds between the church and the school, and it was raised and lowered with considerable ceremony when school was in session. I think that is one response evident in many congregations: we could show our loyalty in many ways without placing the flag in the church; other congregations seem to have brought it into the building itself, with great debate about the proper location (nave, chancel, narthex, etc.).

“Non-Americans are often astounded to see a national symbol in the church (perhaps they have memories of the Nazi flag being touched to the altars of German churches).

“The so-called Christian flag is another matter entirely. It has no tradition of the church behind it. In fact, it violates much of what anyone knows of ecclesiastical heraldry. It seems to be the design of one man, who both drew it and profits from it. He or his heirs still get a royalty on every one sold. People seem to think that you need something to balance the U.S. flag on the other side, so you have a Christian flag.”

Obviously, the inclusion of the American and Christian flags is widespread in the LCMS. As Professor Schmelder mentioned, this probably developed out of the desire of congregations of prominently German-American heritage not to appear German during and after the world wars. Likewise, many veterans of those wars returned with great patriotic zeal, which probably manifested itself in the desire to display “Old Glory” in the sanctuary.

Today, however, it may be time to reconsider this short-lived tradition among us (Lutherans never did this prior to WWI, and then only in America). One may observe that many congregations today, when considering a sanctuary renovation or even building a new sanctuary, will opt to display the flag in a location other than the chancel or nave. Many will place a flag outside of the building proper, or perhaps in the narthex. In such ways, as Professor Schmelder noted, we can demonstrate our patriotism, but not blur the distinction between the kingdom of Christ with the kingdom of the world/government. Our Lord’s words, of course, come to bear on this issue ultimately: “Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s; and render unto God the things that are God’s” (Luke 20:22). Both are good and right … in their respective places and times.

Flags are popular in some cultures, and the United States is one of them.  Flags evoke strong feelings and loyalty to hearth and home.  Soccer fans will often wave flags during matches to show affection for their home countries as they are represented on the field.  The same is certainly true in the Olympics.  Flags are displayed on houses and in various community displays out of love of country.

Flags are so common in the United States that they are beloved and comforting symbols.  They appear at sports events, in military or Boy Scout ceremonies, and sometimes even in ways that it could be argued might not be entirely appropriate - such as on decals on cars and on belt buckles.  Some people want the flag in the church because they like it.  But that fact alone is not justification to include it.  I once had a lively debate with a motorcycle-church pastor who argued that it is appropriate to adorn church walls with exhaust pipes and gas tanks.  How these things point us toward Jesus, I don't know.  There is a difference between a Hard Rock Cafe or a Cracker Barrel (both of which have interesting things hanging on the wall) and a Christian church sanctuary - in which the art exists to point us to Christ.

But there is another context and use of flags: a show of jurisdiction.

For example, a Kentucky State court will display the flag of the Commonwealth as a confession of sorts, that this court is convened under Kentucky (not Ohio and not Indiana) law.  A 1988 movie called Judgment in Berlin is an adaptation of the 1984 non-fiction book of the same name written by a U.S. federal judge named  Herbert J. Stern.  Stern presided over an unusual case in 1978, held on German soil, but because of the way post-war Germany had been divided up by the allies, this trial was held under the auspices of U.S. law.  Juries had been abolished by Germany in 1924, and yet this trial, held in Germany, had to have a jury and be conducted under American law and juridical procedure.  The U.S. flag in the courtroom was not a symbol of patriotism or nostalgic feelings of home - it indicated a legal jurisdiction.

Similarly, ships on the high seas are flagged and are under the jurisdictions of the flags they fly.  

Another example of the jurisdictional use of national flags involves embassies.  The Saudi Embassy, for example, is located in Washington, DC.  But it does not fly the U.S. flag.  Embassies are outposts of the countries they serve, and the Saudi Embassy in Washington is actually "Saudi soil" (not sand in Washington!).  U.S. law does not apply there.  The Saudi flag is indicative of sovereignty and jurisdiction.

In a sense, the church (whose space we sometimes call the "nave" - that is, the "ship") is like a ship or an embassy that flies under its own flag.  Churches, though located in the U.S. or Canada or Russia or Ethiopia - are actually missions or consulates or embassies of heaven.  The sovereign of the Church is not the king or the queen or the president - but the King of Kings, the Lord Jesus Christ, He who said, "My kingdom is not of this world," He who rebuffed Satan's temptations to give Him all of the kingdoms of the world.

And in the west, there is a long tradition of ecclesiastical law (canon law) being applied to the church instead of civil law.  The controversy between King Henry II and Archbishop Thomas Becket began as a dispute over who had legal jurisdiction over priests: the king or the bishop.

Even in funerals of soldiers, the draping on the casket inside the sanctuary is not the national flag, but rather the white baptismal pall.  The flag is placed onto the casket only after the body leaves the church and the casket is being prepared to be placed into the grave.  There is a liturgical break between the rites of the church and the rites of the military.  

Finally, it is important to understand that the Church is universal and transcends nation and tribe.  The Lord reveals His Church to be from "every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages."  The Church is not contiguous with any national jurisdiction.  And Lutheran Christians can traverse the planet and can feel right at home in the Divine Service in the presence of their brothers and sisters in Christ (in the very presence of Christ) even if the language of the Mass is unknown to the worshiper.  There is no American Church, German Church, Russian Church, Kenyan Church, or Icelandic Church.  There is only one holy catholic and apostolic Church, a "holy nation" that knows no boundaries, but spans the globe and transcends time itself, even unto eternity.

Nations will rise and fall - and they have.  Kingdoms will come and go - and they have.  Flags will be raised and lowered - and they have.  But God's kingdom "shall stand forever!"

The Conservation of Momentum

Auld Lang Paternoster!

"Better late than never" and a Lesson from the Magnificat

I just got caught up on posting my Advent sermons - from 2011.  As of now, I have 531 sermons posted here on FH.  I am actually only lacking my earliest sermons from vicarage - and I'll get those caught up when I get the proverbial "round tuit."  But I'm really pleased to be caught up to this point.

This is one of those lingering "to dos" that I can now scratch off on the old Moleskine!

Anyway, in last year's Rorate Coeli (Advent 4) sermon, I made an observation about the Blessed Virgin Mary and how Protestants and Catholics squabble over her significance to the Christian faith.  I believe that this matter ought to be put to rest by the Blessed Virgin's own words in the Magnificat - which are God's Words as recorded by the holy evangelist St. Luke (1:46-55).

Here is an except...

There is a belief about Christianity among the unbelievers in Christianity that the first Christian was St. Paul.  What they mean by this is that Paul invented the Christian religion, that the Jesus he preached was not the “historical” Jesus, and that we are really more followers of Paul than of Christ.

This is an interesting theory that awkwardly tries to explain the origin of Christianity.  But if we believe Christianity is true, the question of who is the first Christian becomes interesting.  Some might argue that the first disciple, St. Andrew, was the first Christian.  Others might say that Abraham, as the first man called by God under the old covenant would be the first Christian.  We could even argue that Adam was the first Christian, the first to see God face to face.
It all depends on how you want to define “Christian.” 

The Blessed Virgin Mary was the first human being to be in the physical presence of the fleshly incarnate Jesus, and immediately, she confesses Him as both God and Savior.  In that sense, Mary is the first Christian.  She is not only the beloved mother of Jesus, but also the beloved elder sister of every Christian.  And this young girl, a lay person: not a rabbi or a priest, not an apostle or a pastor, not a deaconess or a professional church worker – blazes a trail for all Christians in confessing the Christ within her very body: “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.” 

“God my Savior.” 

Dear friends, this confession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the mother of God, is the beating heart of the Christian faith.  For the Christ child within her is not only a savior, a prophet, a deliverer like Moses – but He is also God.  And equally important, she is not merely worshiping a God who is afar off, but a God who has come into space and time, becoming an embryo within the womb of His mother – even as have been every one of billions of human beings ever born (with the exceptions of Adam and Eve). 

And notice also that the Blessed Virgin confesses Jesus as not only “God” and as “Savior” – but also as “My.”  For even the devil has to confess the truth that Jesus is God and that He is a Savior.  But Christians also confess the “my” part.  Mary’s threefold confession is a complete confession of Christ: Almighty God, humble human being, our Savior. 

This “first Christian” is utterly unique in all of human history.  For she is indeed as we confess in our Lutheran confessions and with the Church of every age: “holy” and “pure.”  She is the mother of God.  And yet she too needs a “Savior” – a rescuer from sin.  Mary is pure because Jesus has made her so.  Jesus is born because He came to our world through His mother.  God created Mary, the God the Father called Mary, God the Holy Spirit overshadowed Mary with His presence, and Mary conceived God the Son within her womb.  And from this created creature emerges the uncreated Creator.  From one descended from sin comes One who is sinless.  The tiny embryonic Christ child conceived miraculously within the virgin is also the Savior of the Virgin who created for Himself a pure portal into our impure world. 

Christians sometimes squabble over how this can be.  Such arguments happen when fallen man attempts to impose reason on a miracle.  Was Mary conceived without sin?  God did not reveal this to us to be either true or false.  He did something to protect His Son from inherited sin – beyond that, God is silent.  But we know this much: Mary calls her Son her Savior, and Jesus was born of a pure womb.  Rather than argue over dogma, we Christians, like the first Christian herself, would do well to fight less and rejoice more!

"Fight less, rejoice more."  That might be a good New Year's Resolution for each and every member of the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church as a witness to this conflicted world.

!שלום   Pax!   !سلام  ειρήνη!  Frieden!  Paix!  ¡Paz!  Мир!  Peace!

Sermon: Christmas 1 – 2012

29 December 2012 at Salem Lutheran Church, Gretna, LA

Text: Luke 2:22-40 (Isa 11:1-5, Gal 4:1-7)

In the name of + Jesus.  Amen.

We are on the cusp of the year of our Lord 2013 – but 2012 still has a couple more days to go.  Around the world, we will see the symbolism of the new year as a baby in a diaper, and the passing year as an old man with a beard.  This is an almost universal way of depicting the passing of time.  And without meaning in life, that is all time does: pass.  The numbers change, the calendar pages flip, and we all get one year older.

But, dear friends, to us Christians, the passage of time is not just a matter of getting older, rather we are one more day, one more month, one more year closer to the consummation of creation: the final coming of our Lord, the end of time itself, and the completed restoration of paradise without sin, death, and the devil, without contention, strife, and conflict, without hatred, fear, and want, without pain, sadness, and death.

That is why we Christians can identify with the smiling, hopeful baby in the new year cartoons.  We are a people of hope because we are the people of God!  We are people of the promise because we are the people of the Word.  And the Word was made flesh, and His face, the face of the smiling hopeful Baby, is also the face of a kind and merciful God whose countenance shines upon us!

And yet, the old man of the world’s symbolism is also a symbol of hope for us Christians.  What more beautiful illustrations are there, living historical flesh-and-blood icons of faithfulness and patience, of tenacity to the Word and promise of God, of the sanctity of time itself spent in waiting patiently on the Lord and in the Lord’s presence?  What greater illustration do we have, dear friends, than the elderly saints Simeon and Anna?

For old Simeon waited patiently “for the consolation of Israel,” a man upon whom the Holy Spirit visited, and upon who rested the Spirit’s revelation.  He was promised that he “would not see death until he had seen the Lord’s Christ.”  And like Abraham of old, he was nearing the end of his course of life on this side of the grave, and yet he still waited patiently and faithfully for the Lord’s promise.

And like the Old Man of 2012, Simeon meets the young mother Mary, her husband Joseph, and the baby Jesus, the Son of God, the Lord’s Christ.  The blessed Virgin and her husband had come to the temple – another symbol of the old passing away (for the True Temple was in the womb that Jesus opened, and the true presence of the Holy Spirit was in the Holy Child in her arms).

Thousands of times before, temple sacrifices were made in honor of the firstborn son, a foreshadowing of that one final sacrifice of the firstborn Son – after which there would be no more need for animal sacrifices, nor for a temple made with human hands.  For the Lord Himself not only opened the womb of His virginal mother, but also opened the tombs of all His adopted brothers and sisters!  The Lord opened the heart of the Father to be moved with pity and mercy and forgiveness for all of us poor, miserable sinners who have been rescued by this one final sacrifice.

And St. Simeon was given a revelation of God in the flesh.  Simeon took the child Jesus “up in His arms” and spoke the holy words that are the Word of God, words used in the Church’s liturgy: “Lord, now you are letting Your servant depart in peace, according to Your Word; for my eyes have seen Your salvation that You have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to Your people Israel.”

And like the Old Man of the Old Year, Simeon is ready to pass from the old to the new, to see the Old Testament drawn to a tired close, and to witness the New Testament emerge with vigor and youthful energy.  And what’s more, in Christ, Simeon will not merely slink off to die, rather he will find renewed vigor and life – eternal life, in fact, by virtue of the Christ Child, the sacrifice presented in the temple, the atonement offered upon Golgatha, the Victor who will emerge from the grave, the One who is coming again “with glory to judge both the living and the dead, whose kingdom will have no end.”

Simeon, in his ripe old age, “when the fullness of time had come,” had seen the “shoot from the stump of Jesse,” witnessing with his own aged and expectant eyes the “branch from his roots” that shall “bear fruit” – and this is the very fruit of the womb of Mary, the true “male who first opens the womb” and who “shall be called holy to the Lord.”

Simeon’s eyes have “seen [the] salvation that [God has] prepared in the presence of all peoples.”  And as the prophet wrote seven centuries prior concerning the Lord’s Christ, “He shall not judge by what His eyes see, or decide disputes by what His ears hear, but with righteousness He shall judge the poor.”  The Lord’s Christ does not judge us according to what the eyes and ears see and hear, but rather by the gracious righteousness He has come to give us, through washing and regeneration, through the Word, through forgiveness, and through the administration of His true body and blood that was sacrificed on the cross.  St. Simeon receives a revelation of just who this Lord’s Christ is!  He is ready to “depart in peace.”

There is another elderly saint to complete the picture of the old giving way to the new, of hopefulness and steadfastness, of a lifetime of service to the Lord that culminates in giving “thanks to God and [speaking] of Him to all who were waiting for the redemption.”  St. Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, the longtime widow who enjoyed the blessings and comfort of holy marriage for only seven years, and yet who at age 84 “did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day.”

Like St. Simeon, St. Anna has seen that which was revealed to her by the Holy Spirit.  Her patient service was not in vain!  Her prayers and tears did not go unheard and unheeded!  She is not just a symbol of a passing year, a relic of days gone by, an old lady to be put away and ignored.  She too has new life because of the shining countenance of the Lord’s Christ, the Holy Child who has been brought to the temple to become the temple, who has been carried to the sacrifice to be the sacrifice, who is truly the “male who first opens the womb,” the “holy to the Lord.”

For the Old Testament, the revelation to the children of Israel, the testimony of the Law and the Prophets are not being outmoded, thrown away, and kicked to the curb.  Rather they are being brought to fruition, being fulfilled, being renewed in vigor in the presence of the faithful, young and old alike!  For “when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.”

Dear friends, St. Simeon and St. Anna were redeemed from death, released from the burden of the law, and received into the fullness of righteousness through this same Christ Child, through this same flesh and blood, through this same incarnate Word who is present for us here in this time and in this place, the same Lord who makes our very bodies to be temples of the Holy Spirit, the same One for whom we wait patiently to come again, waiting as redeemed and forgiven sinners, waiting as worshipers in God’s House, waiting as those who put their faith and their hope in the Words and promises of God!

And like Simeon and Anna, “you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.”  And so let us, along with Mary and Joseph, with Simeon and Anna, with the saints and witnesses of every time and place, living and dead, known and unknown, men and women of every tribe and tongue, “[bless] God, our “Abba, Father,” and sing, “Lord, now you are letting Your servant depart in peace,” as we “give thanks to God and speak of Him to all who [are] waiting for the redemption.”

And when we see the symbolism these next few days of the Old Man 2012, let our thoughts and meditations turn to elderly saints Simeon and Anna, and when we see the smiling baby in the diaper representing 2013, let us remember the true Child of Hope, the one wrapped in swaddling cloths, who blesses us and keeps us, whose face shines upon us even as His countenance is lifted up upon us from the cross.  Let us ponder this new year 2013 Anno Domini, in the year of our Lord, in the Simeon-and-Anna-like hope and expectation of seeing the Lord’s salvation in the flesh, Him whose “righteousness shall be the belt of His waist, and faithfulness the belt of His loins.”

A blessed new year in our Lord to you, dear friends, to the whole Church on earth, and to the entire world, “in the presence of all peoples.”  Amen!

His

on the sickness of sinto the next - and d w liars and sons of the devil, tament, a bloodye people on In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Happy New Year (1984?)

Some honesty from the Big Hollywood left wing: president Obama (Bush III?) is pushing a tyrannical Big Brother state on Americans who seem increasingly okay with the destruction of their own liberties.

Orwell shrugged?

Meet my New "Old Friend"

Some books are destined to become dog-eared "old friends" very quickly.

I suspect this is going to be the case between me and my new "old friend" Thy Kingdom Come: Lent and Easter Sermons by David H. Petersen (Emmanuel Press, Fort Wayne, Indiana, 2012, 215 pages, paperback, $20.00).

I just received the book today, and in fairness, I have not yet read the book in its entirety.  However, 67 sermons are included in only 211 pages (not including the Forward by Rev. Todd Wilken, the Introduction by Rev. Michael Frese, the Table of Contents, and the Scripture Index), and it won't take long to read the book in its entirety.  However, as is the case of devotional books, it is best not to rush reading it, but rather take one's time and savor it, ponder it, apply it, and allow God's Word to do its work through unhurried meditation and prayerful study.

So far, I have carefully read the Introduction, the Forward, and the Holy Week and Easter sermons.  I have skimmed through some of the other sermons.  I can honestly say that so far, with very high expectations of the book (based on my own experiences as a hearer of Pr. Petersen's proclamation), I have not only been delighted, but edified as a fellow pastor and preacher, and as a Christian sinner-saint in need of the Good News.  This book is so far exceeding my expectations!

As Pastor Todd Wilken says in his Forward, "But whether you are a hearer or a preacher, I pray this book does for you what it has done for me.  For there is far more here than mere textual insights and sermon ideas; here is the Gospel for sinners.  This book delivers Christ crucified for sinners.  And we all need that" (page xi).

I heartily agree with Pastor Wilken, and would like to add a few thoughts of my own.

Like many men educated at Concordia Theological Seminary - Fort Wayne in the past few years, I was shaped as a preacher by many men, including Pastor Petersen.  Upon starting seminary, it doesn't take long for liturgically-minded seminarians to learn which congregations in the area are faithful to the liturgical and historical traditions of "Evangelical Catholic" Lutheranism.  Redeemer Lutheran Church is always one of the names at the top of that list - if not the apex.  Bright-eyed seminarians are typically wowed by Redeemer's architecture, reverence, the incense and bells, the magnificent vestments, the genuflecting and bowing and the unabashed sign of the cross, the High Mass (with celebrant, deacon, and subdeacon), the degree of reverence in the Divine Service, the polished acolyte corps, the musical dignity and beauty of Kantor Reuning and the choirs, the many conferences hosted by the congregation, as well as daily prayer offices and even daily Low Masses during the penitential seasons.  On those occasions when Pastor Petersen was the guest celebrant at Kramer Chapel at the seminary, "high church" seminarians would excitedly pack the pews to see and hear Pastor Petersen the celebrant.

But we students quickly learned something else: Pastor Petersen is also a preacher.  And how!

One found out pretty quickly about the law's ability to sting, to bludgeon, and yes to kill.  The entire sanctuary would be filled with silent men and woman staring at their shoes as Pastor Petersen condemned our Old Adams without allowing a loophole or even any wiggle room.  With his intonation of one word: "Repent!" he would have his hearers almost in tears.  And just when you think you could not take any more, you didn't have to, as Pastor Petersen proclaimed the cross, the forgiveness of sins, the sweet and refreshing Good News that Jesus, the Crucified One, is our Savior and our Redeemer.  If I could sum up David Petersen as preacher and as celebrant in one word, I would say: intense.

In his interactions with students, I found him to be truly "apt to teach," possessing a sense of humor and a candor that was formative to the many men who count it a privilege to have been formed - at least in part - by his work and ministry in Fort Wayne.  Obviously, men who served as field workers and/or vicars at Redeemer (I was not) have been the most influenced by him and credit him for making them the preachers they are today.

Thy Kingdom Come is a book that is not only wonderfully deep devotional material for any Christian, it is also a mini-homiletics course for pastors.  Just as I counted Pastor Petersen to be a great teacher to me before I was a pastor, I count him an even greater teacher now that I am considered to be his colleague - both in the ministerium of The Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod, and as a fellow editor at Gottesdienst.  Although I am the sermons editor, I continue to look to my brother-in-arms in the Lord's service as an instructor and mentor.

In no particular order, I would like to point out things that jump out at me from the book and from Pastor Petersen's preaching contained inside:

As I said, Pastor Petersen is a teacher.  Preaching is not primarily teaching, but teaching goes on in the process of proclaiming the Good News.  Pastor Petersen has a way of cutting to the chase quickly in explaining biblical symbolism, such as the meaning of the palm tree in Hebrew poetry as an insight into Palm Sunday (page 127).  He is able to succinctly explain literary devices (e.g. the kiss as relating to Mary of Bethany and to Judas, page 130) without pedantry or pomposity.  He gives historical explanations, again often in a sentence or two (such as his explanation of the Roman whip used on our Lord, page 132).  He preaches with an eye on the text's literary devices, such as tying the forbidden fruit hanging in the Garden to our Lord's body hanging at Golgotha (page 139) - imagery that is not only vivid and striking, but theologically connecting Eden to the cross, and further making the connection between the cross and the Lord's Supper (page 140).  He has the gift to speak with accessible profundity without falling into academic jargon.

Pastor Petersen also brings in etymology and translation issues from the original languages, at times preaching in poetic patterns and lushly picturesque turns of phrase, thereby searing biblical imagery into the mind.  He is never flippant in the pulpit, but there is at times what I would call a "reverent playfulness" in his preaching, sometimes quoting movies, novels, or even pop songs, not in a way that is fishing for entertainment, but in a genuine way that focuses on his point.  As we students were counselled by the late Rev. Prof. Kurt Marquart (who served at Redeemer with Pastor Petersen), our preaching must not become formulaic and predictable in its rhetorical style.  Pastor Petersen lives up to this advice, giving his sermons a freshness and certain unpredictability as to how he might treat any given text.

There is an eschatological element to many of these sermons, a constant reminder of the Big Cosmological Picture of Christ the Victor and our march through time toward the end of time, even unto eternity itself.  There is a constant reminder of the warfare between good and evil, of the fallenness and corruption of this world, and of the real meaning of Christ as the world's Redeemer who is setting creation anew and aright.

Pastor Petersen teaches how to properly borrow, modify, and include outside references - be they theological, historical, or homilectical.  The footnotes throughout the book freely attribute those places where Pastor Petersen has adapted ideas of other preachers and authors and applied them to his own hearers.  Pastor Petersen is not shy in using biblical turns of phrase, even though they may not be in the particular text assigned by the lectionary.  There are also times in Pastor Petersen's preaching where a big emotional uppercut is delivered in almost shocking language and metaphor.  Pastor Petersen is a wordsmith, and he applies the language necessary to get the job done - and he understands what that job is: to deliver Christ!

Just a few remarks on the book itself: it is paperback, reasonably priced, sports a simple and yet beautiful cover depicting our Lord's crucifixion.  Pastor Wilken's Forward is delightful and an accurate description of what you will find in this book.  The Introduction by the publisher Rev. Michael Frese (also serving as a pastor at Redeemer) has helpful explanations of not only the title and the relationship between preaching and God's kingdom, but also provides an explanation of how the book came to be and the background of how Pastor Petersen goes about crafting his sermons.

The book is tight and well-edited.  I have not encountered any typos or mistakes in formatting.  As a minor nit-pick, the book does not typically capitalize the divine pronouns as is normally done in modern English.  Given the ESV (the primary translation used in the book) does not capitalize these pronouns, there is bound to be a difficult editorial decision one way or the other - which Pastor Frese addresses in his Introduction (page xvi).  If I could have a wish-list, I would like to see a complete index in addition to the Scripture Index - but this would be a luxury and it would also inevitably add time and expense to the project.  The font and layout are easy on the eye, and there is ample margin space to jot notes.

I think Emmanuel Press has not only done a professional and high quality job as a publishing house, I believe Pastor Frese has given the Church a great gift in making Pastor Petersen's preaching available and accessible to everyone!  Thank you to Pastor Frese and of course to Pastor Petersen.

I am really looking forward to getting to know my new "old friend" even better!

This Just In from the Holy COW (Commission on Worship)

Extra satire when you understand the Latin chant: "Dona eis requiem" ("Grant us peace").

A Great Gift for a Man

A big "merci" to Mrs. H. for the wonderful Christmas gift of an Anson Belt & Buckle gift set (two belts and three buckles).

They are outstanding!

This is a great gift idea, as every man wears belts. I'm pretty rough on belts, and they don't generally last too long for me. Also, I like being able to have black or brown with either a silver or gold buckle. Generally, I'm stuck with the black-silver or brown-gold combination. But not any more! The Anson belt is a technological innovation that works like the plastic zip-ties (cable ties). Thus, the leather (and they are nice leather) straps have no holes in them. The buckles are like high-tech works of art. The system allows for any belt to be worn with any buckle. Everything snaps on and off in seconds. The belts fit like a glove, and they look magnificent. You can wear these belts with a suit or with a pair of jeans - and they look just as great.

The above video - actually a review of the product - is right on the money. And speaking of money, the price is very reasonable - especially for something of this quality! The packaging is very classy - so this is an ideal gift. I look forward to hearing more great things from this father-son American company!

Merry Christmas from Novosibirsk!

Christmas Eve at St. Andrew's Parish, the cathedral church of the SELC in Novosibirsk, Siberia

[Note: Just passing along Professor Ludwig's greetings - Ed.]

Christmas Greetings from Siberia 2012

Christ is born! May His light be your joy and salvation.

Peace in Him,
Rev. Alan Ludwig
LCMS Missionary to Siberia

Sermon: Christmas – 2012

25 December 2012 at Salem Lutheran Church, Gretna, LA

Text: John 1:1-14 (Ex 40:17-21, 34-38; Titus 3:4-7)

In the name of + Jesus.  Amen.

“In the beginning was the Word….  And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.”  On this day, the entire world celebrates the Word becoming flesh.  History was never to be the same.  Eternity itself is what it is because of what God did “in the beginning.”

“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”  And at that time, “the earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep.”  There was only darkness, because the Word had not yet commanded light into being.  But when the Word spoke the words: “Let there be light,” there was light.

And the universe has never been the same.  For darkness is a lack of light.  One tiny flickering candle, one small spark, just a few streaming microscopic electrons serve to remind us that darkness – though at times scary and intimidating – is nothing.  It is literally nothing, for the substance of light eliminates the non-substance of darkness – even the small candles held by Christians on Christmas Eve serve to eliminate the cold of darkness by replacing the void with substance of warmth and brightness. 

Before human history, one of God’s creatures, an angel of light, decided that he would rather live in darkness than in the light created by God through the Word.  This creature preferred his own ugliness to the Creator’s beauty, seeking his own chaos rather than the Creator’s order.  And since this time, he has been trying to undo the work of creation – including us, the handiwork of God, creatures made in the divine image.  For mankind is repugnant to the devil, we creatures who remind him of His True Master.

As a result of this war between darkness and light, the Word that was with God in the beginning, the Word that was God, was sent here to earth to bring light to us who, as a result of Satan’s tyranny, sit in darkness and in the shadow of death.

Indeed, as the prophet spoke: “The people who have walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone….  For to us a child is born, to us a Son is given.”

The fulfillment of this prophecy, the beating back against the darkness of sin and death by the light of righteousness and life took place when the “Word became flesh and dwelt among us.”  To manifest this reality that the Lord Jesus Christ had been born, the wise men followed the star, whose light led them to the True Light, as we sing in the Evening Prayer liturgy: “Jesus Christ is the light of the world, the light no darkness can overcome.”  The light of the star led them to the Christ Child, the Word made flesh, the light shining in the darkness, the one born into our world to save our world, as St. Paul wrote to St. Titus, by virtue of the “goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior,” who “saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to His own mercy.”

And as the testimony of St. John in Holy Scripture confesses and reveals about this Christ Child: “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.  The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it….  The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.  He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, yet the world did not know Him.”

This Uncreated Light shining in the darkness of our corrupted world came as a humble child, He by whom all things were made, God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God,” born with the forces of darkness trying to extinguish the young flame of His fleshly existence, “came to His own,” taking flesh and blood in a world populated by the very people created in His image and through Him.

And even though “His own people did not receive Him,” we know this: “To all who did receive Him, who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor the will of man, but of God.”

Dear friends, this is the true significance of Christmas: in Christ, the light has dispelled the darkness.  Good has come to extinguish evil.  The gift of the Christ Child is offered to each of us, making us also children of God, forgiven of our sins, given the gift of eternal life, blessed to be a blessing in this world.  For we Christians, we followers of this Christ Child, are to let the light of our good works shine before the world that the Father may be glorified.  We are to leave the darkness and walk in the light of Christ.  For darkness is the absence of light.  Light is a positive reality that causes darkness to flee.

“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” 

Think and meditate on this reality, dear brothers and sisters, even as we see the flames dancing at the altar in celebration of our Lord’s birth, even as Christians around the world closed out the eve of the Christ’s Mass last night in singing Christ’s glory while brandishing small candles in their hands.  Think and meditate on this reality, dear friends, when you see the colored lights of the season adorning our trees and our homes, as we see light, great and small, joyfully set the darkness and all of its dark forces fleeing from the True Light of Christ! 

Jesus Christ is the light of the world, the light no darkness can overcome!” 

And let us pray with the entire Church on earth the words of the ancient prayer:

“Blessed are You, O Lord our God, king of the universe, who led Your people Israel by a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night.  Enlighten our darkness by the light of Your Christ; may His Word be a lamp to our feet and a light to our path; for You are merciful, and You love Your whole creation, and we, Your creatures, glorify You, Father Son and Holy Spirit.  Amen.”

His

on the sickness of sinto the next - and d w liars and sons of the devil, tament, a bloodye people on In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Merry Christmas from the Siberian Evangelical Lutheran Church

[Note: this is a missive from the SELC's "Faith and Hope" newsletter series, which includes Bishop Vsevolod Lytkin's Christmas Address - Ed.]

Peace to you dear Brothers and Sisters,

       

May we bring to your attention the words of greetings from the Christmas Address of our Bishop Vsevolod Lytkin that will be read in the parishes of SELC during the Christmas liturgy.

  

Brothers and Sisters:

“The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” Today the most important words for our faith were spoken in the church. And it seems that there is certain incompleteness in them as they appear in our [Russian]translation. 

Christ, the Son of God, eternal Word of the Father, came down to earth, was born among us, dwelt with us, but what came after that? What a joy that the Word has never stopped dwelling. We could have translated it in this way: “The Word ... has begun to dwell” or “The Word has made dwelling with us.” The Lord has come to earth not to leave us afterwards.

And so it becomes perfectly clear why we need Church so much. For if the Word became flesh and began to dwell among us, then the main question we should come up with is the following: where shall we find this Word?

  

Where are we to find Christ? The answer is simple: there where He awaits us at every liturgy, where the Eucharist is celebrated at the altar, the major sacrament of God's presence on earth.

It is impossible to be saved without Christ. It is impossible to find Christ bypassing the Church. We come here as the Christmas shepherds to the Bethlehem manger, and here we find Christ. He is so close to us in the Eucharist that it’s impossible to be any closer. We partake of Him, and His life becomes our life.

My beloved parishioners, I wish you a merry Christmas and happy New Year. Let this new year bring you happiness and may your dreams come true. And the most important thing is that you would strive to that place where Christ is and be with Him always. 

We wish you all God’s blessings during this holy time of Christmas!
   
“Faith and Hope”

Of the Father's Love Begotten!

In response to my earlier post about Christmas and the Kantorei, I got the glorious news from my colleague in the Holy Ministry and fellow Kantorei alumnus the Rev. Aaron Kangas that he has just made "Of the Father's Love Begotten" available on his YouTube channel!

Deo gratias!

In 1998, after I met with CTS Fort Wayne recruiter the Rev. Scott Klemsz (who after patiently listening to me complain about the sorry state of the churches in our area and how hard it was to find a liturgical LCMS congregation, dropped the line, "We don't have praise bands at CTS - Fort Wayne," looking like the cat who ate the canary), I went home and played the Kantorei CD he gave me (With Angels and Archangels). 

This ("Of the Father's Love Begotten") was the first cut on the CD, and that pretty much closed the deal for me. In just a couple years, I was a seminarian at CTS - Fort Wayne, and a year later, I found myself part of the Kantorei itself - and it was one of the most rewarding experiences of my life.

Thank you, Father Aaron, for sharing our treasure with the world through YouTube!

Merry Christmas, y'all, "evermore and evermore."  Amen.